Artificial sphincters are devices that are implanted in patients to assist in occluding lumens of the patient to control a flow of material through the lumen. For instance, artificial sphincters have been implanted around the urethra to treat urinary incontinence.
Conventional artificial sphincters are “active” artificial sphincters that operate to provide a desired constrictive force to occlude a lumen of a patient responsive to input from the patient. Typical active artificial sphincters comprise a cuff, a reservoir and a pump. The cuff is wrapped around the lumen, the reservoir is implanted in an abdominal cavity, and the pump is implanted at a location that may be actuated by the patient, such as in the scrotum of the patient. Tubing connects the reservoir, pump and cuff. The reservoir pressurizes fluid in the system and maintains the cuff in an inflated state, in which a constrictive force is applied to the lumen to occlude the lumen. Actuation of the pump drives fluid out of the cuff and back into the reservoir to deflate the cuff. This removes the constrictive force on the lumen and allows the passage of material through the lumen and past the cuff.
The implantation of such an active artificial sphincter can be quite invasive due to the number and volume of the components. Additionally, the control of the artificial sphincter requires input from the patient, which may be difficult for some patients.